Problem: Let $ a$, $ b$, $ c$, $ x$, $ y$, and $ z$ be real numbers that satisfy the three equations
\begin{align*}
  13x +  by +  cz &= 0 \\
   ax + 23y +  cz &= 0 \\
   ax +  by + 42z &= 0.
\end{align*}Suppose that $ a \ne 13$ and $ x \ne 0$.  What is the value of
\[ \frac{a}{a - 13} + \frac{b}{b - 23} + \frac{c}{c - 42} \, ?\]
Answer: In the first equation, adding $(a-13)x$ to both sides gives us $ax+by+cz=(a-13)x$.  Solving for $x$, we have $$x = \frac{ax+by+cz}{a-13}.$$Since $ a \ne 13$ and $ x \ne 0$, both sides of the equation are non-zero.  Similarly from the 2nd and 3rd equation,
$$ y = \frac{ax+by+cz}{b-23}$$and
$$z = \frac{ax+by+cz}{c-42}.$$Then we know that
$$\begin{aligned} ax+by+cz &= a \cdot  \frac{ax+by+cz}{a-13} + b \cdot \frac{ax+by+cz}{b-23} + c \cdot \frac{ax+by+cz}{c-42}\\
&= (ax+by+cz)\left(\frac{a}{a-13} + \frac{b}{b-23} + \frac{c}{c-42}\right). \end{aligned} $$If $ax+by+cz = 0 $, then $x = \frac{ax+by+cz}{a-13} = 0$. But we know $x\ne0$. Hence, $ax+by+cz \ne 0 $. Thus,
$$\frac{a}{a-13} + \frac{b}{b-23} + \frac{c}{c-42} = \boxed{1}.$$